3 Family Members Shot When Man Fights Back In Warren Home Invasion

WARREN (WWJ) – A husband, wife and their teenage son were shot by a robber in their own home, when the dad tried to fight back.

That’s according to police, who said the incident happened Sunday night on Toepfer, near Van Dyke Ave., north of 8 Mile Road.

Warren Police Commissioner Jere Green said three robbers came knocking on the family’s door just before 11 p.m. — all concealing their faces; two of them with guns drawn.

When the intruders announced it was a hold up, the father — a 57-year-old man — pulled out a BB gun and began beating one on of the robbers with it, Green said.

That’s when that same suspect shot all three family members.

LISTEN TO THE 911 CALL:

Warren Triple Shooting

Green said the 53-year-old mother was shot in the stomach and was last reported in serious condition on a ventilator at an area hospital. The 17-year-old son was shot in the lower abdomen but had what were considered non-life-threatening injuries. The father was shot in the forearm and shoulder.

Green said the father had apparently been talking about an inheritance he’d received — and investigators believe the robbery was not a random crime.

“They actually announced, ‘Where is the money?’ when they came in. I think when dad started to protect himself and his family, that’s when things got ugly,” Green said.

“All indications are that it was motivated by, you know, the possibility that there was money; based on what was told to us and based on how they announced the robbery,” said Green. “It’s very likely…it’s probably more likely than not that they know each other.”

Green said the robbers were still at large, late Monday morning, but was he confident police would be able to make arrests in the case in short order. One man was brought in for questioning as investigators were following leads and executing search warrants.

Neighbors seconded Green’s theory about the family’s inheritance, saying a lot of people had heard that the family came into some money.

“And then other people finding out about it, maybe other people told other people and to me I just felt like it was a set-up,” the neighbor said.

One neighbor, who did not wish to be identified, described hearing a commotion followed by the rapid-firing of a gun.

“I wanted with all my heart to come down, I don’t know what I would have did. I probably would have got killed too, but that was my first instinct to come down here and help — that’s what I wanted to do,” said the neighbor. “Because they good people, that’s what I really wanted to do.”